Huntercombe's hollows

[Adam Lawrence]

Just came across this snippet from Fowler's chapter on heathland courses in Hutchinson's 'Golf Greens and Greenkeeping' from 1906. Rather interesting...

"The Romans, I found, had been there some years ago, and they had designed some excellent bunkers, which I was first of all told by archaeologists were used as stables for their horses, but now higher authorities say that they were camp kitchens ; anyway, they come in capitally informing the best type of hazards. You may see the same deep hollows at Huntercombe, which, no doubt, was also a Roman camp."

[Niall C]

Adam,

Clearly they used to drink some strong stuff in those days !

Interesting though that the hollows were pre-existing. I've never seen the course but from threads on here I just kind of assumed that they were created as part of the golf course. From that point of view I suppose the design is more along the lines of the "laid out" school of architecture rather than the "shift the dirt" school.

Niall

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Adam,

Interesting. There are ancient earthworks at Bath and Berkhamsted, and Royal Wimbledon enters a Roman camp. I shall probably wake at 3 am, thinking of another.

An old Roman road crosses Prenton, on the Wirral.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

And isn't there a Roman road at RCP?

[Scott Warren]

There is, Mark. It flanks the 12th and crosses the 11th fairway about 80 yards shy of the green.